Village
This is a work in progress. Names, events, titles, etc. are subject to change
A nearby rustling makes the hair on my neck stand on end. Immediately, I am on my guard. Standing very still, I survey the area, looking for the rabbit. There are the bushes, an open clearing with sparse trees, and lots of grass. Nothing seems to be happening. The tear shaped stone is still in my hand. I slowly put the necklace on, hold the stone up to my face and whisper out a call for Cas.
Silence. I try again. I hear nothing but the ambient hum. One more time to be safe. Either this thing is broken, she lied to me, or she’s not awake. Does… whatever-it-is-she-is sleep? No way to find out until I hear back from her, I guess.
I noticed it earlier but now I have the presence of mind to process it: there’s a huge bloodstain on the ground a few paces away from me, near the bushes. That must be where I was slain last. If it wasn’t, I’d be even more worried. I’m not sure I want to inspect it, though.
Another rustle comes from the bush directly above the scarlet reminder of my death. For just a moment, I’d like to relax. I turn around, and just run toward the tree in the clearing I saw earlier. It doesn’t take me long to close the distance. I guess I can move pretty quickly now, too. I put my hand on the tree and lean against it for a moment, catching my breath. Seems like running still takes a lot of energy. I should have spent more time doing cardio in the past.
Suddenly, I remember I was supposed to be running from something. I turn around and check my path. Looks like I wasn’t followed. If the rabbit is anything like it used to be, then it probably doesn’t want confrontations. It makes me less nervous to imagine it was just acting in self defense. Preemptively. Finally, I catch my breath. The tree next to me is pretty tall. A view from the top should help me find some sort of shelter.
I inspect the tree to make sure nothing scary is on the branches. Deciding it’s safe, I climb to the top. It’s really dark. There isn’t much to see in the distance. I don’t see any obvious signs of caves or houses. I keep looking until I notice, very faintly, there’s a light between some hills. Perhaps fire? A sign of civilization? There isn’t much else for me to do, so that’s my destination.
Time to get out of the tree. As I drop down, my eye catches some movement. Focusing on it, sigh, it’s the damn rabbit. I was really hoping it wasn’t predatory. At least I know it’s coming this time.
I land and put up my guard again, waiting for it to strike. It didn’t take long. It’s so fast, I understand how it got me last time. But, now that I’m more present, I can see what’s happening. The rabbit’s leg swipes and it’s claws extend toward my neck. Decapitation, again? Let’s not make this a habit. I duck down below the swipe. At the same time, I go for an open palm strike toward the side of the creature. My hand ignites, leaving a bright trail behind its path. The side of my hand connects with the ribs of the rabbit. Its fur singes, it squeals, and is sent flying a few yards.
I take my previous defensive stance and ready myself, but the rabbit turned toward the bush it came from and scurried off. Good. It’s not like I wanted to kill it. I just didn’t want to die. Content, I let out a long sigh and put my hands on my knees. The adrenaline is still pumping.
Okay, now it’s time to go to the light I saw. I reorient myself and head in the direction I had decided on before. As I walk, I think about the events that just happened, my new strength, Cas, the future, and a lot of other things. I have a lot of questions and my head feels hazy. Who is Castor? Why must I become the strongest? What does that mean? Do I have a choice in any of this? What are the people on Gemini going to be like? At the very least, I’ve gotten a couple answers. The flame in my soul seems to enhance most of my basic abilities like eyesight, reflexes, durability, speed, and strength. Strangely, it seems like my stamina didn’t get the same increase. It kind of feels like I’m able to push my body’s limits instead of everything being just… improved. I don’t know. Conjuring the magical fire didn’t seem to make me any more tired, though. Further testing is required, I guess.
I’d love to keep playing around with all of this, but safety comes first. This whole situation is crazy and I’d prefer not to be some hero, but I can’t do anything if I’m dead. I continue my walk. I start to think about my past. Everything is fuzzy. Some bits and pieces are easier to see. I remember being a soldier. I remember doing research. I remember hurting people. Loving someone. Betrayal. Atonement. Dying. My neck begins to sting and my head starts to ache. I tap my wrists on my temples to relieve some of the pain.
The hum of the sky machine begins to intensify. It’s agitating. My headache is not appreciating it. I look up at the machine and see a small light break off of it. The light slowly gets brighter. Now bigger. And now it’s getting even bigger. I think it’s coming straight at me, really fast, too. I take a big breath and start running as fast as I can.
Without warning, I’m tackled from behind. My aggressor and I hit the ground in unison as the light smashes down behind us, creating a small crater and kicking up a cloud of dust. I catch myself and turn towards the assailant. Before I could say anything, they already have a hand over my mouth and are signaling me to be quiet. They let go of my face and wave their other arm in a circle above their head.
A shimmering veil surrounds us like a dome. I can see through it, but the outside is slightly obscured. The stranger is still gesturing for me to be silent. They don’t seem harmful. I trust them and remain still. For a moment, everything is quiet. Then, a small humming machine flies by the dome and stops at the crater. From the machine, a few flashes of light illuminate the hole in the ground. It seems satisfied then floats straight up toward the humming machine. We wait in silence for quite a long time. I’m starting to get bored, honestly. I sit comfortably, lean back, and stare at the person who hit me. They appear to be male. Their face is obscured by some heavy eyewear and some light clothing.
Finally, the guy who assaulted me stands up, waves away the veil, and offers me a hand. I take it and lift myself up. He says, “What the hell are you?” I’m caught off guard and, to be honest, kind of pissed off by this question.
“I’m a person. What the hell are you? What the hell was that flying thing?” I reply.
He laughs and lets go of my hand. The man takes off his eyewear and smiles at me. He calmly replies, “I’m a person, too. We call those things ‘birds.’ They’re King’s sentries.” I scrunch my face and squint in confusion. I don’t think that explained anything. While exhaling slowly, he stretches his shoulders a bit, visually relieving some of his stiffness. “Sorry for earlier. I saw you fighting with the rabbit and followed you,” the man says softly.
Ah, perhaps he doesn’t know about these powers? Maybe I came across like one of the monsters. Hmm, that makes no sense. That veil earlier looked like magic. As I understood from Cas, everyone is powerful. Anyway, I speak up, “Oh, yeah, I’m pretty strong. I was just defending myself, though.”
The guy looks confused, “Strong? Haha, apparently not that strong. I saw you die. The rabbit killed you back there.” I am embarrassed hearing this. “Then a few minutes later, you were back. During your rematch, you didn’t even kill it.” He starts to laugh again then continues, “I have a lot of questions, buddy.” I don’t want to talk to him anymore.
I change the subject, “I need shelter. I’m heading toward the light source over that way.”
The guy relaxes his shoulders and put a hand on mine. I flinch a little bit. He says, “That’s my home village. I’ll take you there.” He reaches out a hand and says, “I’m Rigel. Nice to meet you.”
I reluctantly put my hand in his and shake it. “I’m Po-” My throat closes up. I can’t seem to say my name. I clear my throat and try again. “I’m Lux.” This came out easily. I am concerned. Did Cas actually change my name? Does she have some sort control over me? No catch my ass.
“Well, Lux, let’s get you back to my place. My sister can’t cook but you don’t look like you can, either, so what choice do either of us have? Haha.” He sounds like he’s joking but his face says he’s hoping I’m secretly a master chef.
I tell him I can eat almost anything, so I’ll be fine. Rigel gives me a pained smile. We walk in silence toward his village.
The gravel crunches beneath my boots. It’s a nice change from all the grass and dirt. The walk was quite long. Rigel kept trying to lighten the mood with some jokes, but I really wasn’t in the mood. I feel kind of bad letting him flail around trying to connect with me, but it was funnier that way. He seems like a nice person. I’m probably very lucky I met him first. Or maybe it wasn’t luck. I have no clue how much Castor has orchestrated things. If only she’d answer the stupid rock. I have so many questions for her.
The village is nice. Not very large, I think. There’s a couple rows of well-built homes, mostly made of brick and wood. A couple appear lit up, but there isn’t anyone outside their homes. There’s a larger building in the center and a couple nicely decorated ones around it. Perhaps public spaces. Some strange animals occupy wooden pens by the houses. Livestock, I guess? I’ve never spent any time near animals.
“Here we are!” Rigel suddenly exclaims. I wasn’t expecting him to be so loud, especially this late in a place so quiet. I reflexively covered my ears, to which he mouthed an “oops.”
Rigel fiddles with the lock on the door of the cottage we stopped beside. A couple thumps and an expletive later, the door opens. He waves his arm and tells me to come inside.
The smell of stew permeates the room. I assume his sister is cooking. Admittedly, his comments about her cooking had me worried, but I don’t think I have anything to worry about. I’m curious what she looks like.
“Meissa! I brought something weird home!” Rigel yells. I’m annoyed that he keeps referring to me as a thing. I choose to remain silent this time. “Meissa!” he yells, again.
A huskier voice than I expect shouts back, “I heard you the first time! Give me a damn second!” I’m more curious about her now. Rigel shrugs and sits down. He points at a chair and tells me to sit. I lean back against the wall instead, defiantly. He shrugs again. We wait patiently for his sister. I cross my arms and close my eyes, imagining her appearance. I realize I don’t really know what Rigel looks like either. His cloak and eyewear block most of his face. It’s kind of weird he didn’t take them off immediately after entering. I ask him why he’s wearing his gear still. He tells me it’s because “it looks cool.”
Meissa turns the corner of the kitchen as I’m lost in thought. I almost didn’t notice; I was distracted. She’s a lot smaller than I imagined. Probably half a foot shorter than Castor. She stares at me confused, “Rigel what the hell? You said you brought a weird thing home but it looks like a guest.” She puts the bowl of stew she’s holding down in front of him. He laments that they stew has cabbage in it. As Rigel attempts to grab the spoon from her she flips it onto the floor. After wiping her hands on her shirt, she extends a hand out to me, “I’m sorry about him. He’s kind of an ass.” Rigel makes noises of disagreement. “You get used to it and then start to tune it out. My name is Meissa.” I shake her hand. I like her more than Rigel already. She continues, “So what’s your name and what brings you here?”
Rigel starts to speak but I cut him off, “It’s kind of a story but, to keep it short, I have nowhere else to go. Rigel invited me here for shelter. Oh, and you can call me Lux.” Slurping noises attack my ears. Meissa begins thinking. She puts her hand to chin and hums.
Meissa says, “What’s the whole story? The short version told me almost nothing.”
Rigel then starts speaking with food in his mouth, “I shaid the shame thing but he wouldn’t chalk.”
She waves her hand at him dismissively, “Stop, just eat. Do you want any food?” I nod and thank her. She quickly sets up another bowl and hands it to me. She says, “I don’t blame you for staying quiet around him. Honestly it’s all you can do, sometimes.” Meissa chuckles. I think they get along better than they let on. She grabs my attention again saying, “Talk to me though. Why are you here?” I flinch. Her face is pretty serious. She nods at me, waiting for a response. I nod back reactively. She’s a little scary.
She walks me to the table and sits her face in her hands. It reminds me of Cas and it makes me uneasy. I tell her, “Um, well, I’m not from here. I’m from another planet.” The siblings look at each other, pause, and then back at me. They say nothing but wait for me to continue.
I tell them about my reincarnation, about Castor, how she lit my soul and sent me on a quest. I admit that a rabbit killed me the first time around, but I was sent here again. Rigel confirms excitedly to Meissa that he saw this happen. They ask me about my past, but I have a hard time telling them anything about myself. My head starts hurting and the memories are hazy. They’re surprisingly accepting of the story. I was expecting to be met with “you’re lying” or “what are you hiding”, etc. They listened like they were happy to have something new happen around town. They tell me that those with lit souls, as I call it, are referred to as “kindled.” Both Rigel and I are kindled. Rigel tells me he was born with it, but Meissa was not. As it turns out, most people are unkindled.
Meissa speaks up, “So, this Castor is like a deity or something?” Her eyes are bright with curiosity. “I’ve never heard of her before. You sure she’s real?” Ah, here comes the disbelief. I was ready for this. I guess they just held their questions until the end of the story.
I pull out the tearstone from my shirt and show it to them. I say, “Cas gave me this rock that’s supposed to allow me to communicate with her, but she hasn’t been answering.” Both of them stand up and gasp.
Rigel points at the rock and exclaims, “That’s an ansible!” Meissa nods her head and then stares at me wide-eyed and mouth agape. He then says, “Those are insanely rare and probably one of the most useful things in the world.” Meissa nods again.
She collects herself and then tells me, “An ansible is basically a means of instant communication. They come in pairs. One stone relays sounds it hears to it’s twin without delay and across any distance.” Rigel nods.
I hold it up and examine it. I’m not sure what to say, but I speak anyway, “Well, that would sound impossible if I didn’t already go through weirder events.”
The siblings sit back down and calm down. Rigel starts, “It’s worth a fortune. There used to be a lot of them, but King had them destroyed. They’re extremely useful for military coordination; destroying them made sure no one else could use them against him.” Meissa nods and sighs sadly.
I have tons of questions. Who is King? Is he the strongest? Do I have to surpass him? How the hell am I supposed to do that? My mind is racing, I’m tired, I just want to stop thinking. Before I can say anything, though, Meissa has a question of her own.
She moves the conversation along, “So, why did you accept Castor’s proposal? Did you just really want the power? Why not deny it and rest in peace? If what you said is true, you lived your life already. Did you have regrets?”
I remind her I don’t really remember too much about my past, but I do confirm that I feel some unfocused regret. It would be easier if I could understand my own feelings. I whisper, “I don’t know.” My chest tightens a bit. I lean forward and start to relax on my arms, too tired to keep up my guard any longer. “I think part of me wanted the power, part of me was afraid to say no, and part of me thought maybe I could fix whatever it is that’s bothering me.” They tilt their heads in unison. Rigel looks confused and Meissa looks empathetic. “When I was reincarnated, or resurrected, or whatever, my feelings were more clear. Cas told me a story about a girl who became the first kindled. She spoke about the girl like she was an idiotic child, but I just felt sad for her.”
Rigel gets excited and loudly says, “The Witch!” I raise my eyebrows and stare at him. I ask if they know anything about the girl in the story. He goes on, “They call the first kindled ‘The Witch.’ She was supposedly the most powerful kindled of all time. Far more powerful than even King.”
This is good. Any info is good. I ask Rigel, “Can you tell me more about her?”
Rigel clears his throat and says confidently, “Nope!” Meissa lets her head fall backwards. He says, “Well, I know a little.”
Meissa sits back up and puts her hand on her brother’s head. She says softly, “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk.” He pouts. She looks at me directly and says, “There isn’t a lot of information about her. She died a couple centuries ago. Everything I know about her is from stories I’ve heard.”
I sit up, posture straight. “I’ll take any information, honestly. All myths and stories have some truth to them, right?”
She agrees, asks Rigel to fetch water for everyone, and begins her story.